The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court will hear a writ petition challenging the appointment of CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli as prime minister.

A single bench of Justice Bal Krishna Dhakal on Sunday forwarded the case to the constitutional bench, citing the need for a ‘serious constitutional interpretation’.

“The matter raised in the writ petition involves serious questions of constitutional interpretation, and its resolution should be done by the constitutional bench. Therefore, present it before the chief justice,” the order states.

Advocates Deepak Adhikari, Khagendra Prasad Chapagain and Shailendra Kumar Gupta filed the petition on July 15, seeking a mandamus order to annul the appointment arguing that it was unconstitutional.

The petitioners argue that the President should initiate the new government formation under Article 76(3) if a government formed under Article 76(2) fails to secure a vote of confidence.

Article 76(2) states that in cases where no party has a clear majority in the House, the President appoints as prime minister “a member of the House who can command a majority with the support of two or more parties.”

Article 76(3) allows the President to appoint the parliamentary party leader of the largest party as prime minister, subjecting him to a vote of confidence within 30 days. Under the clause, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba would become prime minister as the parliamentary party leader of the largest party in the House.

The Office of the President, the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Nepali Congress President Deuba and Prime Minister Oli, among others, have been named defendants in the petition.

President Ramchandra Paudel on July 15 appointed Oli as the prime minister after he staked his claim to the post with the support of 166 lawmakers.

The President had made a call as per Article 76(2) of the constitution after Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who was appointed under the same article, failed the floor test.